On October 3, 2000, in an important bill for public
health and highway safety advocates, bipartisan members of a House-Senate conference
committee completed work on the fiscal year (FY) 2001 Transportation Appropriations bill.
Included in the bill was a modified version of the Senate's .08 blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) national drunk driving standard. Under the modified provision,
states would have four years to adopt .08 BAC as their drunk driving standard without
incurring penalties. States that do not adopt .08 BAC by 2004 would have their
federal highway funds reduced on a graduated scale. The first year (2004) a state in
noncompliance would lose 2% of its highway funds, in the second year 4%, in the third year
6%, and in the fourth year (2007) 8%. States that adopt .08 BAC as their drunk
driving standard by FY2007 would receive highway funds lost between 2004 and 2007.

Nineteen states, and the District of Columbia,
currently have .08 BAC as their drunk driving standard. Kentucky's .08 BAC law went
into effect on October 1, 2000. Nearly all other states have .10 BAC laws.

A national drunk driving standard of .08 BAC is
necessary and reasonable.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) the average 170-pound male would have to consume more than four 12
ounce cans of beer within one hour on an empty stomach to reach .08 BAC. The average
137-pound female would need to consume at least three cans of beer in one hour on an empty
stomach to reach that same level. NHTSA also found that in 1998, 38% of all motor
vehicle-related fatalities involved alcohol. This translates more than 15,000
alcohol-related deaths. Lowering BAC limits from .10 percent to .08 percent is an
effective method of saving lives. According to a study by Hingson et al., if all
states lowered their BAC limits to .08, alcohol-related highway deaths would decrease by
500-600 per year.